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Source : Kompas

3 Bills Related to the Expansion of Papua’s Region are Agreed to be Initiative Bills, Thanks to West Papua

Three bills or Rancangan Undang-Undang (RUU) related to the expansion of Papua’s region have been agreed by the People’s Representative Council of Indonesia or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat – Republik Indonesia (DPR-RI) to be its initiative bills

Those three bills contain the Establishment of Central Papua Province, the Establishment of South Papua Province, and the Establishment of Central Highlands Papua Province. 

The bills were submitted possibly because of the positive progress shown by the expansion of West Papua in recent years.

Regional Expansion in Papua

Regional Expansion means dividing an area like a city, a regency, or a province into two or more new regions. 

Similar to the establishment of West Papua on the latest expansion of Papua, there will be three additional provinces according to DPR-RI’s initiative bills. The three new provinces are Central Papua, South Papua, and Central Highlands Papua.

Some regencies will be included in those three provinces’ areas. 

Firstly, the total of six regencies that will be included in Central Papua Province’s area, are Mimika Regency, Paniai Regency, Dogiyai Regency, Deyiai Regency, Intan Jaya Regency, and Puncak Regency. Furthermore, ‘Meepago’ will be the name of Central Papua Province, which also has Timika City as its capital city.

Secondly, South Papua Province will be named ‘Anim Ha’ with Merauke City as its capital city. The easternmost regency in Indonesia, Merauke Regency, will be included in the area among the other three regencies namely Mappi Regency, Asmat Regency, as well as Boven Digoel Regency.

Lastly, the highest mountain area in Indonesia, the Jayawijaya Mountains, will be included in the third province, Central Highlands Papua Province. There are eight regencies that will be included in the province. 

Those regencies are Jayawijaya Regency, Puncak Jaya Regency, Lanny Jaya Regency, Mamberamo Tengah Regency, Nduga Regency, Tolikara Regency, Yahukimo Regency, and Yalimo Regency. Moreover, the province will be named ‘Lapago’, and the capital city will be Wamena City.

West Papua’s Role in the Bills 

According to the Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, the agreed initiative bills related to the expansion of Papua’s region are intended to speed up the government’s development in the area. 

He thinks that some areas in Papua are late in development, while some significant progress was shown in the expansion of West Papua.

That lateness of development was seen when He had a role as the Regional Chief of Police in Papua. He said that the lateness is very clear, especially in the Central Highlands Papua area. 

Therefore, similar expansions are needed not only in that area but also in some other areas to be more even for the development like the one that happened in before.

By modeling the rapid development of the established province for the next expansion, there will be some advantages in many aspects such as administrative, political, legal, economic, social, and cultural. Still, there will also be some contradictory arguments about the uncertainty for Papua Province.

The Importance of Regional Expansion

Looking at the development progress in West Papua after the latest Papua’s regional expansion, it is important for the central government to do similar things in other areas of Papua. The development can be intended for many sectors like health, education, prosperity, infrastructure, and many others.

Papua has a very large area that makes people feel inconvenienced when they need to go to the capital city for whatever reasons, especially for those who live in remote areas or in the farthest district from the capital city. 

The largest province, Papua Province, itself has an area of more than 300,000 square kilometers. That is huge compared to the area of its neighbor province which is only about one-third of Papua Province’s whole area.

The location of the capital city is also important for administration purposes. If an area is enormous, like Papua Province, it is better to have the capital city in the center of that area. 

However, the location of the capital city of Papua Province, Jayapura, is in the northeasternmost part of the province, which is not ideal for people who live in the south and west districts.

By adding three new provinces in Papua, people will get easier access to the capital cities as they are closer to where they live in each province. 

Not only that, more provinces means more Regional Revenues and Expenditures Budget or Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Daerah (APBD) will be given from the central government to each province with a smaller area. That budget can be used for the development of each province that has different needs from others.

After the agreement of the three bills to be the People’s Representative Council of Indonesia’s initiative bills, the land of Papua will have five provinces, although at first it was planned to be expanded into six provinces.

Those provinces are the old provinces, Papua and West Papua, and the newly established provinces, Central Papua, South Papua, and Central Highlands Papua. It is expected to be the beginning of the improvement of Papua’s development similar to the development of West Papua before.